


Once Again

by 16woodsequ



Series: Never Again Forever [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: America has Issues, Burnout - Freeform, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Neo-Nazis, Politics, Steve Rogers Feels, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro, attempted coup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:55:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28719237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/16woodsequ/pseuds/16woodsequ
Summary: Tony finds Steve up in the common room a few nights after the attempted coup in Washington.Steve is tired of alt-right groups.
Relationships: Steve Rogers & Tony Stark
Series: Never Again Forever [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1410241
Comments: 8
Kudos: 47





	Once Again

Tony probably shouldn’t be awake this late at night, but, given the recent events — the recent _year_ — he doubts anyone will blame him. He can’t sleep, his mind moving too fast after the violent riots in Washington a few days ago, so he slips out of bed and makes his way up to the common room.

The lights are dim when he gets in, but the bay windows let in the city streetlights, and it is enough to see by. It is also enough to see the grey shape curled up by the windows. He stops as he recognises Steve, the man sitting cross-legged, with his head leaning against the windowpane, his shoulders slumped.

He swallows at the sight.

It is only recently that Steve and Bucky have started spending more time in the common areas of the Tower. With the pandemic, and with the fact that Steve and Bucky are the ones to go out most often, they had wanted to be as careful as possible.

Now though, he thinks it is probably a good thing that the two aren’t isolated on a separate floor right now.

The last few days have been… bad, in a sort of horrible, empty way. It had been surreal, witnessing the attempted coup in Washington, and he had been angry, he had been _furious,_ but… he hadn't been surprised.

And he had been exhausted.

Looking at Steve, and seeing the drained look on his face as he stares blankly out the window, he imagines the man feels the same.

Steve had been doing a lot ever since the attack, be it media interviews, or social media posts. He has a lot to say, obviously, but Tony imagines that it is draining. Well, Tony isn’t exactly sure what he can do about that, but he is already familiar with the favourite coping mechanism for the Tower, and he tears his eyes away from Steve as he heads to the kitchen.

It doesn’t take long to prepare mugs of tea for both of them, and he holds one in each hand as he comes over. Steve shifts as he gently eases himself down — which is good, since it means the man isn’t completely zoned out — and he accepts the mug Tony offers him, the corner of his mouth turning up slightly at him in thanks.

Tony nods at him and takes a drink from his own mug. “You okay?”

Steve’s eyes drift back to the window, his hands clasped around his cup. “No,” he says tiredly.

Yeah, not really a surprise. Tony lets out a sigh and lets his gaze shift out to the distant lights below. “Yeah, me neither,” he says.

Beside him, Steve finally takes a drink of his tea, and he closes his eyes. “I just—” he takes in a slow breath. “I knew this would happen.” Tony nods at that, and Steve opens his eyes to stare down at his mug. “And I could talk about it for days, I could tell everyone how I’ve already seen the growth of fascism, I could tell them what it was like living with it growing bigger and bigger but—”

He swallows and his hands tighten on his mug. “It isn’t like they need _me_ to say that though,” he says, his voice sharpening slightly. “I’m not the only one who knows these things. I’m not the only one _saying_ these things. I don’t have anything new to say, but I _have_ to, because I have to do _something._ ”

He pulls in a slow breath and leans his head against the window again, his shoulders slumping. Tony swallows uneasily, because he doesn’t exactly know what to say, but as he watches, Steve takes in a few more breaths and straightens again, taking a sip of his drink.

“I just wish there was something more concrete I could do,” he mutters.

“Yeah,” Tony sighs, leaning back slightly. “I mean, SI is already donating to a bunch of charities and grassroot organisations and stuff, and I have JARVIS helping to identify some of the perpetrators but…”

Steve’s mouth twitches up. “But it only helps if they actually get arrested.”

Tony huffs out an annoyed breath. “Yeah.”

They sit in silence again for a while, their tea slowly cooling as they stare out into the city. “We have to remember that it is possible to fight back,” Steve says finally, his eyes never moving from the window as he speaks. “We have to remember that. Germany managed it, and countless other countries, and even with the continued existence of alt-right groups and neo-Nazis, we have to remember that we _can_ come back from this point.”

Tony nods at that, and Steve takes in a stabilizing breath. “It’ll be hard though. And things like this might happen again,” his eyes shift to him. “But we gotta keep doing it. We have to keep talking about it, and calling for change, and voting, and learning, and resisting.” He lets out a breath. “And we have to be willing to acknowledge the fact that this _did_ come from us, this _is_ part of this country, and it needs to be _cut off_ before it grows any bigger.”

Steve’s eyes close for a second and he takes another drink. “’Course,” he says tiredly. “This is not solely an American problem. Did you know the Proud Boys was founded by a Canadian?”

Tony blinks. “No, I didn’t,” he says, and Steve nods.

“Yeah,” he says quietly. “He lives here, but, well,” he shrugs and looks back towards the window. “Hate grows anywhere.”

Tony’s lips press together at that, and he takes a drink of his tea – although it is near tepid by this point. “You going to be okay?” he asks, keeping his eyes on Steve. “You know–” he shrugs and gestures vaguely with his mug. “Since things might not get better for a while. Even with all the bans and stuff, we might have to deal with something like this again soon.”

Next to him, Steve licks his lips and sucks in a breath. “I’m working on it,” he says, flicking his gaze to him. “I guess that’s another part of resisting, making sure you don’t burnout in the process.”

Tony nods. “Yeah, I’m sure Sam would have a lot to say on that.”

Steve lets out a chuckle. “Oh, Sam has a lot to say on _all_ of this,” he waves a hand. “He’s coming with me to do an interview later this week but…” his shoulders relax slightly. “Yeah, he’d probably have a few coping mechanism tips as well.”

Tony hums at that and swirls his tea around in his mug. “Well,” he says, a note of humour entering his voice. “I think we’re doing pretty well at that, you know–” he gestures around the darkened common room. “–considering.”

“Ha,” Steve lets out a huff of a laugh and shakes his head. “Yeah,” he says, raising his mug to him in a small salute. “Thanks,” he says quietly.

Tony settles again, and leans his shoulder against the window. “Anytime,” he says softly. 

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write something about the recent events in the States, because that is how I usually cope with these things. But, I didn’t really have a lot of spoons and Steve didn’t really have a lot of spoon either, so I didn’t really want to show his public response, like I have in a few other of my fics. 
> 
> A lot of people in real life are already pointing out what Steve would say, and what he addressed a little bit in this fic.
> 
> Take care of yourselves, this is hard. Even for Steve.
> 
> [Here](https://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/burnout-prevention-and-recovery.htm) is a site about recognising and dealing with burnout  
> My tumblr:[16woodsequ](https://16woodsequ.tumblr.com/)


End file.
